Project setup

Contents

How a Program becomes Dart, in parts. Start with the introduction, then follow each part into the rendered output and the runtime it links against.

• Introduction — what the Dart target is, and how to read the rest of this section.
• Capabilities — which high-level features are possible, built in or through a library.
• Example — a full program using every keyword, and the Dart it renders to.
• Naming considerations — how Program's dotted names are carried into Dart.
• Entry point — starting a program and mounting it as a Flutter app.
• Drivers — the native drivers that provide the interface, animation and network.
• Runtime — the Reactive and Context machinery the rendered code links against.
• Native modules — the hand-written Dart behind NATIVE functions.
• Keywords — how each of Program's keywords renders to Dart.
• Project setup — the files and commands to build and run the rendered program.
• Reserved words — the words Dart keeps for itself, and how a colliding name is escaped.

The files

A rendered Dart program is a Flutter package: a pubspec.yaml manifest and a lib/ tree. Start one with flutter create, then drop the rendered code and the runtime package in.

my_app/
  pubspec.yaml          # manifest: name, dependencies
  lib/
    reactive/           # the runtime package (Reactive + Context + drivers)
    app.dart            # the rendered program
    main.dart           # runApp(Program.Application(() { Main(); }, [ Ui.Flutter.Driver() ]))

# pubspec.yaml
name: my_app
environment:
  sdk: '>=3.0.0 <4.0.0'
dependencies:
  flutter:
    sdk: flutter
  reactive:
    path: lib/reactive

Build and run

Fetch dependencies, then run on any attached device, simulator, desktop or the web:

flutter pub get
flutter run                 # a connected device or simulator
flutter run -d chrome       # the web
flutter build apk           # a release Android build (or ios / macos / windows)

The generated code and the runtime are ordinary Dart, so the whole project is exactly a normal Flutter app — nothing about it is special to build or ship.